Etymologically
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superfluo

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [sʊˈpɛr.fɫu.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [suˈpɛr.flu.o][1]

Forms

superfluō (present infinitive superfluere, perfect active superflūxī); third conjugation, no supine stem[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin super- (“over”) + fluō (“to flow”).[2][1] Fluō goes back to Proto-Italic *flow-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *bhleuH- (“to flow (over)”).[3] Super goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(h1)uper(i) (“over, above”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis and Short call it mostly post-Augustan and find it only once in Cicero,[4] who in the Brutus says of himself as a young speaker redundantes nos et superfluentes iuvenili quadam dicendi impunitate et licentia, “overflowing and running over with a youthful freedom and licence in speaking”.[4][5] Catullus has superbus et superfluens, of a man overflowing with wealth.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Literally it means to flow over the brim or sides, overflow, in Celsus of ingredients in a bronze vessel, and in Seneca, Pliny the Elder and Tacitus of the Nile and a spring;[2][4] Columella uses it of water flowing over a surface.[2][4] Tacitus applies it to an orator who is supra modum exsultans et superfluens, “bounding and overflowing beyond measure”.[2][4] It came to mean to be more than enough, superabound, and to be surplus to need, superfluous, as in Quintilian's nihil neque desit neque superfluat, “let nothing be lacking or superfluous”.[2][4] With an ablative it means to be superabundantly supplied with, as Aquileia with arms in Silius.[2][4] Once in Quintilian it is transitive, of words that would flow past the ears.[2][4]

Timeline

  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus has superbus et superfluens.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it once, in the Brutus.[4][5][6]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of ingredients that must not overflow.[2][6]
  • c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of what is superfluous in style.[2][4][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To overflow, run over; to flow over a surface.[2][4][1]
  2. To superabound, be more than sufficient.[2][4]
  3. To be surplus to need, be superfluous.[2][4]
  4. To be superabundantly supplied (with an ablative).[2][4]
  5. (transitive) To flow past.[2][4]

Word family

  • superfluus

Usage notes

A separate adverb superfluō, “superfluously”, made from superfluus, occurs in Augustine.[5][6][1] Lewis and Short give redundō as a synonym of the verb.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de